12-bars, two Chord Shapes and a Touch of Jazz - part 1

By learning these two simple chord shapes, you can play blues comp
with a jazzy touch in any key. It will get boring after some time if you only use these chords. But they are the basis. You can make variations by taking these chordshapes out of the standard 12-bar framework. But I will start with a
standard 12-bar
blues, type 2, played in two keys that many guitar players will do anything to avoid: Bb and Eb. As long as you use moveable shapes, no keys are difficult. If you want to play with other people, you have to break out of our loved keys of E, A, D, G and C. If you are playing
with someone who is playing trumpet, they will have to play in the key F#-major, if you insist on playing in E-major on the guitar. That is six sharps. If someone is playing alto saxophone, they will have to play
Db-major, if you insist on E-major. In this key, they have five flats. The favorite guitar keys are very difficult to play on most wind instruments. To play F-major, Bb-major and Eb-major is not
as difficult for us as our favorite keys are for them.

These two chord-shapes are often labeled as 7-chords. If one
should be precise, these labels are not correct.. The first chord is a 7th
without the 5th. If you remove a note from a chord, the fifth is usually
the first to go. In a basic triad (three-note chord), the root gives
identity, the third gives character and the fifth gives stability.
It is more important to keep the identity and the character, than to keep the
stability. In a 7th chord, the seventh is added, which gives us the notes 1,
3 and 7 (when the 5th is left out). When we expand the chord to 7th,
9th, etc, the 5th becomes less important. The chord is in root position,
with the root on 6th string, 7th on 4th string and the 3rd on 3rd
string.

The second chord is a 7th without the
root. If one should be precise, such a chord is a diminished triad, built on the third note. If we play it as a good old G7, it will be
Bdim. From what I said above, this chord should loose it's identity. And it does. But if you are playing in a band, some other may play the root. If the bass player is playing the root, then the band will play the full chord, even if the guitar player only play a partial chord. And often our ear will
"hear" notes that it expects to hear, even if the notes are not played. Based
on this, I will not use this chord too much as a I chord (root) in a
blues. You need the root note to establish the root key. If we think of the
chord as a 7th chord, it will be in 2nd inversion. The 5th is
on 6th string, 3rd on 4th stringand the 7th on 3rd string.

Notice the fingerings of these two chords. When changing from one
to the other, you do not move your 3rd finger. It remains in the same position
on the 3rd string. You move the first and second finger between the 6th and the
4th strings.

The two most important notes in a 7th chord are the 3rd
and the 7th. The interval between the two is a Tritone,
a disonant interval that calls for a resolution. If you play the root chord as
a 7th chord, you will never get this solution. The I7 chord will call
for a solution to the IV-chord, and it is easy to be thrown out of key
if you resolve the chord this way. But it is this unstable and usettled
tonality that makes the simple blues form so rich and fascinating. Both the
chord shapes have this tritone.

Now we get to this very simple 12 Bar blues in Bb, using
these two chord shapes.

The very "perfect" and strict playing in these MIDI files is a bit boring. You can download this MP3 file to hear me play the same chords, but with some rhytmic variations. I play fingerstyle with a monotone bass in straight 4/4, and some rhytmic variations on the middle strings. It is not played as written, but I play only
the notes in the chords as they are written

Modern Guitar Method Jammin' the Blues, #1This volume in the Modern Guitar Method Supplements (formerly of the Frank Vignola play-along series) contains useful, well-structured solos for 11 choruses of the blues in the most common keys. Funky, bluesy, and bop oriented lines allow you to feel and hear what it is like to play a well-constructed solo.

Jazz Blues - videos

Jazz for the Electric Blues Guitarist
Jazz For The Electric Blues Guitarist provides a valuable lesson for those who wish to introduce sophisticated jazz lines and more advanced chord concepts into their playing. This information-packed lesson takes the player on an exciting journey from the basic "jazz" blues progression to advanced chord substitution. Turnarounds and chord families, together with further elaborations and inversions are also discussed, in an easy to understand way, which will spice up your blues playing in no time.